Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Windrush Compensation Scheme applicants died before receiving compensation, as at 16 March 2022.

It is deeply regrettable when a claimant passes away before a compensation award can be made or an apology sent to them.

The Windrush Compensation Scheme staff are working hard to ensure where they are aware of claimants with critical or life shortening illnesses, their cases are prioritised.

In the unfortunate circumstances where a claimant has passed away after submitting a compensation claim, but before the claim is fully resolved, the team continues to work closely with the appointed representative, usually members of the family, to ensure the compensation payment is made as quickly as possible to the family member.

As at the end of January 2022 in line with the latest Windrush Compensation Scheme published data, out of the 3490 applications made to the Windrush Compensation Scheme, we are aware of 28 cases to date where the claimant had passed away after having submitted a claim but before receiving compensation. We are working closely with the families and legal representatives to determine the right person to whom the compensation can be paid as quickly as possible.

It must be noted this data is manually recorded and is reliant on the person receiving the information on an applicant notifying the Windrush Compensation Scheme to record this information. The data isn’t recorded in a reportable field in the casework system.